- OakNorth has completed a £9.4m loan to the 50:50 joint venture between Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital;
- The developers hope to use the finance to convert a 92,472 sq.ft. site in the Jewellery Quarter into a major new residential development with approximately 500 new homes;
- Birmingham’s population is expected to rise by 171,000 to 1.3 million over the next 20 years, meaning 100,000 new homes need to be developed over the same period.
OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has completed a £9.4m deal with Galliard Homes, one of the UK’s largest privately owned residential property developers, and Apsley House Capital, which has worked with Galliard on several large-scale residential projects in the past.
The developers hope to convert a 92,472 sq.ft. commercial space on Summer Hill Rd, into approximately 500 new residential units, bringing some much-needed new homes to the city. The site sits within Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter which has been known as a global centre for jewellery crafting for over 250 years and is a Conservation Area with over 200 listed buildings. Today, 40% of all jewellery made in the UK is produced here, so it is not only an area of both cultural and economic significance to the city, but the country as a whole.
Commenting on the deal, Jonathan Morgan, Galliard Director, said: “By 2039, Birmingham’s population is expected to increase to 1.3m meaning that the city needs another 100,000 homes to be built over the next two decades. Unfortunately, it’s currently falling well below the 5,000 per annum target needed to achieve this, with the total for 2018 expected to be around 2,777.
“That’s why we hope to secure the planning permission needed to deliver hundreds of new high quality and affordable homes in an area that continues to strengthen as a centre for financial and business services. The team at OakNorth were able to complete the deal in a matter of weeks which was essential in enabling us to apply for planning permission within our time frame.”
Damien Hughes, Senior Property Finance Director at OakNorth, commented: “Both Galliard and Apsley House Capital share Birmingham City Council’s vision of it being a great place in which to live and work. Over the last five years, they have assembled a residential portfolio in the city with a potential GDV in excess of £500 million, including the 750-unit Soho Loop site which we provided them funding for last year. We’re delighted to be working with them both again and wish them the best of luck in their application for planning permission.”